With the events of the last few days, it would be topical to again talk about the importance of the rule of law in resolving disputes. I will refrain from that for the moment. Instead, I draw your attention again to the nomination of the IAJ (of which JANZ is a member) for the Nobel Peace Prize. My letter to the Chief Justice concerning this is attached to the newsletter. The nomination reflects the importance of this organisation in promoting the rule of law and protecting judicial independence.

January, as the first month of the year, is named after the Roman god Janus. He was often depicted with two faces, looking both forward in time and into the past. He is said to represent progress and transition. Our habit of New Year’s resolutions reflects that tradition. Of course, being February — and not being divine — our good intentions may be fading by now.

Those of you who closely follow the work of the United Nations General Assembly will already be aware that 25 July was declared International Day for Judicial Well-being.

Winter can drain the joy from the greatest of life’s enthusiasts. But as we have passed the shortest day of the year the amount of daylight is now steadily increasing, albeit by about a minute a day. So as the evenings draw out, it is appropriate to reflect on maintaining our personal welfare. 

Following the chaos of the American presidential election in 2000, Russia offered to help the US avoid future problems by sending election monitors (as did the government of Robert Mugabe). By today’s standards, it was a piece of good-humoured trolling. The schadenfreude had greater piquancy due to the assumption that America, of all places, would not experience such systematic failures (who even knew before 2000 that a “hanging chad” was a thing?).

In our secular, rationalist, science-based world there is something pleasingly chaotic about the scheduling of Easter, as it oscillates throughout March and April, seemingly at random. The timing is a throwback to ancient lunar calendars and observations of the equinox (in case you are wondering, it is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the equinox on 21 March).